The present disclosure relates to a recliner or adjusting mechanism. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a recliner or adjusting mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the backrest of a vehicle seat.
German Publication No. DE 198 45 698 A1 discloses an adjusting mechanism for adjusting the inclination of the backrest of a vehicle seat. The disclosed adjusting mechanism consists of a first fixing plate rotatably connected to a second fixing plate. The first fixing plate is connected to the backrest, while the second fixing plate is disposed on the seat part. A circular-arc-shaped peripheral region of the second fixing plate is provided with a toothed portion with which a latching pawl, which is rotatably mounted on the first fixing plate, may be brought into engagement. As a result of this engagement, which may be released for the adjustment, the angular position between the backrest and seat part may be fixed. A locking cam, also rotatably disposed by means of a bolt on the first fixing plate, prevents undesirable unlocking of the latching pawl. Both in normal use, but especially under overload due to an accident, a force acts on the bolt in a radial direction relative to the axis of rotation of the locking cam. In this connection, a structural load limit is preset, up to which the clamping force of the locking cam is maintained and thus the backrest remains fixed in its set position.
There continues to remain a need to improve the safety of a generic adjusting mechanism, such as the one detailed above, at low cost.